The ownership group Mercury13 (London) has made a first investment in Spanish women’s football, acquiring a majority stake in FC Badalona Women, which has been playing in Spain’s top women’s division, Liga F, since 2022.
Badalona is the ownership group’s third such acquisition, after FC Como Women (Serie A Women, Italy) and Bristol City Women FC (WSL 2, England), in March 2024 and September 2025 respectively.
Nike is to become Badalona’s kit supplier and Fever, a search and booking platform for live entertainment, its front-of-shirt sponsor. Terms for these deals remain undisclosed, but Nike has an existing, three-year technical deal with FC Como Women, established in August 2024.
As for management, Badalona will be retaining its President, Josep Bellet, who serves also on Liga F’s executive committee; Pedro Iriondo, a former executive with FIFA and Olympique de Marseille, is to become CEO; and Mercury13’s Chairwoman, Lauren Holiday, will be joining the club’s board.
Holiday, a FIFA Women’s World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist with the US Women’s National Team, serves also as an athlete advisor to Avenue Sports Fund (Avenue Capital Group, New York City), which made a “significant” investment in Mercury13 in December 2024. At the time Mercury13 had been “targeting England as the top priority market in its strategic focus on acquiring professional teams across Europe.”
Avenue Sports Fund closed in September 2025 with more than $1 billion in capital. Mercury13 aside, it has invested in The Bay Golf Club in TGL (league formed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy), Trackhouse Entertainment Group (owner of a NASCAR Cup Series team and a MotoGP team); Cosm (tech, media and entertainment company), Ipswich Town Football Club (English Championship League at the time), PGA Tour Enterprises (PGA Tour’s commercial arm), the Baltimore Orioles (MLB), the New York Mavericks (Professional Bull Riders Team Series league), CityPickle (pickleball brand), the US SailGP Team and the Men in Blazers Media Network.
